Collapsible boxes, packing cases, travelling trunks or the like



Nov. 29, 1955 E. c. SMITH COLLAPSIBLE BOXES, PACKING CASES, TRAVELLINGTRUNKS OR THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 26. 1952 /NVENTOR 1506/?CHARLES ATTORNEYS Nov. v29 1955 Q SMITH 2,725,157

COLLAPSIBLE BOXES, PACKING CASES, TRAVELLING TRUNKS OR THE LIKE FiledApril 26, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 18 I E--- I 19- ,J -IQ 23 14 13 D 14 1614 0 15 E 12 E 10 ATTORNE Y5 United States Patent 6 COLLAPSIBLE BOXES,'PACKING'CA'SES; TRAVELLING OR- THE LIKE Edgar Charles Smith, London,Engiand I Application April 26, 1952, Serial- No. 284,552

Claims'priority, applicationGreat Britain May 8, 1951 3 Claims. (Cl.217"-14) This invention relates to collapsible boxes, packing cases,travelling trunks and. the like and has for object the provision" of abox, packing case, trunk or the like which-can easily be erected toreceive goodsto'be packed and when not in use can be easily collapsed soas to occupy a relatively small volume, and the parts of which areinterconnected so as to form a unitary structure.

According to the invention, a box, packing case, trunk or the like isprovided comprising a base, a lid, sides and ends, in which the ends arehinged to vertical edges ofthe respective sides, said edges beingdiagonally opposite with respect to the base, so that'each end can befolded inwards against the inner surface of the side to which it ishinged, one side being connected to the base by means which permit saidside to be disposed so that the end connected to saidside lies on theinner surface. of the base and said side lies on the said end hinged toit, and the other side being connected to the base by means which permitsaid other side to be disposedwith its normally outer surface lying onthe first mentioned side with the end hinged to said other side on topof the latter, the lid of the box, packing case, trunk or the like.being connected to the outer surface of saidiother side by means wherebyafter the above mentioned operations have been performed, the lid can bedisposed so as to overlie said sides and ends and lie squarely onsaid'base.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood, an embodimentthereof will. now be described in more detail by way of example, withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view ofa packing caseaccording to the invention,with the ends of the case-fdldedinwards and with the lid open.

Fig. 2 is perspective view of partof; the casev withthe lid closed, on alarger scale than Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of the case at the plane indicated bythe lines llI1II of Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation of the partly collapsed case at the sameplane, illustrating the inward and downward movements of the sides andends, and

Fig. is a sectional elevation at the same plane of the completelycollapsed case.

The packing case shown comprises a flat base 1 to the edges of which aresecured narrow vertical edge pieces 2, 2, 3, 3 whereby to form a shallowtray. At or near the upper edge of the edge piece 2 on one side and onthe inner surface of said edge piece 2 is secured near each end of theedge piece 2 one leaf 4 of a hinge, the other leaf 5 of which isextended to form an elongated strip terminating in a transverse pin 6,the ends of which project beyond the sides of the strip 5 and whichengage in guides provided in a guide member 7, there being two suchguide members 7, one for each of said hinges, secured to one side 8 ofthe packing case. The pins 6 and the associated guides 7 provide slidingconnections between the side 8 and the edge piece 2 whereby the side 8is movable towards and away from the base 1 to a limited extentdetermined by stops 10 at the upper and lower ends of the "ice guides 7.Toone endof the side 8 is hinged an. end 9, by hinges 9 which permit theend 9 to be turned inwardly towards the side 8,. but preventing, itfrombeing turned outwardly. Tothe edge pieces 2" secured to the-oppositeedge of the base. 1-are secured one leaf 11 of each of two furtherhinges, the other leaves 12. of which are extended in the formofelongated strips which are longer than the strips 5. of the first.described.hinges and. which also terminate in transverse pins. 13'which are slidable in two guides 14 secured near the respective verticaledges of the side 15 of the packing case about half way up said side 15,stops 14 being. provided at. the .uPPer and. lower ends of the guides14. To the end of the side 15 which isdiagonally opposite the edge ofthe side 8 to which the end 9 is hinged, is hinged. the other end 16 .ofthe packing case by means of hinges 17 which permit the. .-end.16 to befolded inwards towards the side 15,. (Fig. 1), but prevent it from.being .turned outwards. The packingcase is provided with a lidcomprising a. flat top 18 to the edges of which-are secured edge pieces19, 19, 20,. 20., forming a tray similar to that formed by the base landits associated edge pieces 2, 2, 3, 3', the. edge piece 19" secured toone edge. of the top 1 having one leaf'21 of each .of apair of hingesconnected to it,- theother leaves of said. hingesbeing the form ofelongated strips 22. which terminate in transverse pins 2.3-whichareslidable in guides 24 Secured to the outer. surface of the side. 1.5..0fthe packing. case and provided with upper and lower stops 24,

When the packingcase is in the. erected conditionthe pins 6 and 13,areat the. upper ends of their respective guides 7'jand 14, .andthepins-23..are.at the. lower. ends of their guides24 (see Figs. 1, 2.and 3).

In order to collapse the packing. case, the lid, 18 is opened, and theends 9 and 16. are turned inwards as shown by arrows A and B (Fig... 1)againstthe sides 8 and 15' respectively, to the positions shown in Figs.1 and 3. The side 8' and ,end' 9 are. then liftedin the direction of thearrow- C (Figs. 1 and3), until the pins. 6=abut the lower stops 1 0 ofthe guides.7, and theside 8. and end 9 arethen turned inwards as.indicated byv the arrow, D (Figs. 3' .and'4), until ,the-end9 lies. onthebase land the side 8"lies on .the end 9 (see. Fig. 5.). The side 15and .end

16. are then liftedlinthe. direction .of the. ,arr.ow E (Figs. 1 and,3") until the pins. 13 abut the lower. stops 1d of. the guidesl l, andthe side .15 and end 16 are together turned in the direction of.theiartow. F (Fig.4.) so as to bring the end 16 uppermost, and at thesame. time vtheside 15 and end. 16 are swung inwards. aboutthe hinge.pins of the hinges 11,12".- These movements..are.;continued.until asshown in Fig. S'the side 15 lies on the end 8 and the end 16 lies on theside 15. The above-mentioned lifting of the side 15 and end 16 areconveniently effected by lifting the lid 18, which brings the pins 23into engagement with the upper stops 24' of the guides 24, so that whenthe side 15 and end 16 have been lowered to the positions shown in Fig.5 the lid is ready to be swung so as to overlie the sides 8, 15 and ends9, 16 with the lid lying squarely on the base, the edge pieces 19, 19,20 and 20' of the lid abutting the edge pieces 2, 2', 3 and 3' of thebase. When this has been done the sides and ends of the packing case areenclosed within the two trays formed by the base 1 and lid 18 and theirrespective edge pieces.

To erect the packing case for the reception of goods to be packed, thelid is lifted so as to bring the lid and the side 15 and end 16 to thepositions shown in Fig. 4, the side 15 is then turned in the oppositedirection to the arrow F and the lower edges of the side 15 and end 16are inserted into the tray 1, 2, 2, 3, 3', so as to lie against theadjacent edge piece 2, the guides 14 sliding downwards with respect tothe pins 13. The side 8 is then turned upwardly and lowered, by virtueof the sliding connections between the guides 7 and pins 6, so that thelower edge of side 8 and the end 9 rest within the tray, adjacent theedge piece 2. The two ends 9 and 16 are then turned away from the sides8 and respectively so as to project at right angles to their associatedsides with the free edges of the ends 9, 16 abutting against the sides15, 8. The lid is then lowered by virture of the sliding connectionsbetween the guides 24 and pins 23 which connect it to the side 15, tothe limit of travel of the pins 23 in the guides 24, and in thisposition the lid can be turned over so as to close the erected packingcase, the upper and lower edges of the sides 8, 15 and ends 9, 16 thenprojecting into the trays formed respectively by the base 1 and top 18and the associated edge pieces.

It will be observed that the parts of the packing case or the like areall interconnected so as to provide a unitary structure, therebyavoiding the possibility of parts being lost.

I claim:

1. A box, packing case, trunk or the like comprising a base, a lid,sides and ends, one end being hinged to a vertical edge of one sidewhereby said one end is capable of folding inwards against the insidesurface of said one side, the other end being hinged to a vertical edgeof the other side whereby said other end is capable of folding inwardsagainst the inside surface of said other side, the vertical edge oflthesaid one side being diagonally opposite with respect to the base to thevertical edge of the said other side, the periphery of said base havingupwardly projecting edge pieces to form a tray, at least one hingeinterconnecting the said one side and its associated edge piece, thepoint of attachment of the hinge to the said one side being on theoutside surface of the said one side and having limited free movementacross said outside surface to allow the one side together with itsassociated end in the folded position to be folded within the said tray,at least one other hinge interconnecting the said other side and itsassociated edge piece, the said other hinge having a leaf of asufficient length and the point of attachment of the leaf to the saidother side being on the outside surface of the said other side andhaving limited free movement across the last mentioned outside surfaceto allow the said other side together with its associated end in thefolded position to be folded with its outside surface resting upon theoutside surface of said one side folded within the tray, and at leastone further hinge interconnecting the said lid and the said other side,the point of attachment of the said further hinge to said other sidebeing on the outside surface of said other side and having limited freemovement across the last mentioned outside surface to allow the lid tolie parallel to and above the said other side when the box is in itsfolded condition.

2. A box, packing case, trunk or the like as set forth in claim 1,wherein the periphery of said lid is provided with projecting edgepieces to form a tray which is of substantially the same area as thetray formed by the base and its edge pieces, said trays being capable ofcooperating with one another to enclose completely the sides and endswhen collapsed.

3. A box, packing case, trunk or the like comprising a base, a lid,sides and ends, one end being hinged to a vertical edge of one sidewhereby said one end is capable of folding inwards against the insidesurface of said one side, the other end being hinged to a vertical edgeof the other side whereby said other end is capable of folding inwardsagainst the inside surface of said other side, the vertical edge of thesaid one side being diagonally opposite with respect to the base to thevertical edge of the said other side, the periphery of said base havingupwardly projecting edge pieces to form a tray, at least one hingeinterconnecting the said one side and its associated edge piece, thepoint of attachment of the hinge to the said one side having limitedfree movement to allow the one side together with its associated end inthe folded attitude to be raised from a position in which the loweredges of the said one side and its associated end are in contact withthe base to a position in which said lower edges are raised above saidbase, and thus allow the one side together with its associated end to befolded within the said tray, at least one other hinge interconnectingthe said other side and its associated edge piece, the said other hingehaving a leaf of a sufficient length and the point of attachment of theleaf to the said other side having limited free movement to allow theother side together with its associated end in the folded attitude to beraised from a position in which the lower edges of the said other sideand its associated end are in contact with the base to a position inwhich the lower edges are raised "above said base and thus allow thesaid other side together with its associated end to be folded with itsoutside surface resting upon the outside surface of the said one sidefolded within the tray, and at least one further hinge interconnectingthe said lid and the said other side, the point of attachment of thesaid further hinge to said other side having limited free movement toallow the lid to be raised above the upper edge of said other side andto lie parallel to and above the said other side when the box is in thefolded condition.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS924,410 Wrenshall June 8, 1909 1,322,419 Francis Nov. 18, 1919 1,347,230Roberts July 20, 1920 2,172,588 Leichtfuss Sept. 12, 1939

